Corpse-preserver



2 ShetsSheet 1.

' S. COBB.

Corpse Cooler.

No. 16,466. Patented Jan. 27, 1857.

AM. PHDTO-LITHO.CO. NNJOSBORNE'S PROCESS) V 2 Sheets-Shegt 2.

No. 16,466. Patented Jan. 27, 1857.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL COBB, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

CORPSE-PRESERVER.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 16,466, dated January 27, 1857.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL COBB, of the city of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton, and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in what I term a Refrigi-Corpse, for preserving the body after death from decomposition for a reasonable length of timesay from fifteen to twenty days-during the highest natural temperature known toany latitude embraced in the limits of the United States or Territories, thus generally securing to absent friends or relations the certainty of seeing the deceased as he or she appeared immediately after death; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

Similar letters and figures refer to like parts of the improvement.

The nature of my improvement consists in the manner of constructing the parts of the apparatus in which the corpse is placed and arranging it in the case of ice, to prevent the collection of water around the coffin, and yet have ice lying in contact with all its outer parts, or top, sides, and ends. I also construct or furnish the lid of the coffin with raised edges, to prevent the ice from slipping off of it by jolt-ing, when the apparatus is being moved from place to place and at the same time provide means for carrying off the water that collects on the lid from the melting of the ice, by pipes constructed to pass through the lid, and coffin, as will be hereinafter specified and represented in the drawings.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my improvement I will proceed t( describe its construction and operation by referring direct to the accompanying draw ings of which,

Figure 1, represents a vertical longitudi nal sectional View of the apparatus, in. a complete state. Fig. 2, is a top view of the case with the lid removed and coflin taken out. Fig. 3, is a transient sectional view of the apparatus together. Fig. 4, is a separate and perspective view of a piece of frame work laid in the bottom of the case to prevent the coffin from jolting about in the case when being moved from place to place, and to keep the coflin out of the water collected in the bottom of the case from the melting of the ice therein. Fig. 5 1s a separate view of the coflin and frame on which it is placed in the case. Fig. 6, is a top view of the coffin with the lid removed, and Fig. 7 is a top view of the lid. Figs. 8, 9, and 10, are different views of curved ice vessels for placing around the head, cheeks, and neck, of the corpse when in the cofiin.

A is the case made of wood and lined on the inside with copper or other metals, and a space (16) is left between the inside of the case and copper which is filled with charcoal or other non-conducting substances to preserve the refrigeratory powers of the case.

B, B, is a frame placed in the bottom of the case A, with an opening cut in its top the shape of the bottom of the coflin, in which the coflin C, is placed to prevent the coflin from jarring about in the case A, when being moved from place to place, and the bottom of the coflin rests on the cross strips R, R, to prevent the water that collects in the case by the melting of the ice from coming in contact with it, which if allowed to, would have a tendency to destroy the refrigerative power of the apparatus to a certain extent.

D, D, are sides projecting up around the edge of the lid of the coflin for preventing the ice from slipping off of the lid, when being moved, or jolted about from place to placethe lid with the said sides forms a kind of a box, which would fill with water from the melting of the ice, if there was not some means of carrying it off, which is effected by the pipes 12, 12, 12, 12, placed in each corner of the coffin, and attached to the bottom, (as represented fully in Fig. 6,) and the lid is likewise provided with pipes 13, 13, 13, 13, at each corner so that when the lid is placed on the coffin the pipes 13, to the lid will project down into the pipes 12 in the coffin (as represented in Fig. 1, in section) which conducts the water from the top of the lid to the under part of the coffin thereby freeing the ice on the top of the lid from the water which prevents its melting and effectually preserves the refrigeratory power of the apparatus.

F, represents a section of the lid intended to be over the face of the corpse for the purpose of removing without taking the balance of the lid off, and is furnished with an opening and glass (14) to view the corpse if desired without taking that portion of the lid off, and an opening is made in the cover of the case g, g, at (15) and likewise provided with a glass directly over the opening made in the lid of the cofiin for the purpose of viewing the face of the corpse without taking the cover of the case off if desired.

(76,) is a spirit level placed in the top of the lid for the purpose of leveling the case A, to draw oi the water collected therein from the melting of the ice, so that no part of the bottom of the coffin will be immersed in the water.

(70) represents a thermometer attached to the end of the case for ascertaining the temperature of its interior at all times, if desired.

(m) is the pipe for conducting the water from the case (A,) collected by the melting of the ice therein, into the basin (n),the opening made in the case to which the pipe is attached to is made so that the water will always be drawn oif, suflicient in all circumstances to prevent it from touching the bottom of the cofiin.

Holes are made in the frame B, to permit the water to run from the melted ice, around the coflin to the bottom of the case.

S, S, are curved ice vessels made of such a shape as will fit around the head, cheeks, and

head of the corpse, and filled with ice for increasing the refrigeratory power of the apparatus about those portions of the corpse.

The sides of the case A, will be provided with handles for lifting, not represented in the drawings.

The lid or cover g, g, is held to the case by means of screws, and the joint is provided with a strip of gum-elastic sheeting placed between the cover and case.

0, 0, represents trestles on which the apparatus rests when being applied to use.

lVhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

Providing the lid of the coffin with sides or edges, D, D, when arranged with the pipes at each corner of the lid, and made, to extend down into the pipes (12) in each corner of the cofiin, all for the purpose of confining the ice to the top of the lid, and drawing the water therefrom, collected by the melting of the ice, for the purposes mentioned in the foregoing specification.

SAMUEL COBB.

W'itnesses:

MARTIN BENSON, C. B. HUGHES. 

